Sussex Cricket in the Community to benefit from £50,000 Government boost

Published:13:50Thursday 22 January 2015

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Sussex Cricket in the Community are delighted to have the support of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, who have invested £50,000 in the development of cricket based programmes in three wards of Brighton & Hove and also Crawley, both of which are designed to tackle social agendas.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP visited The BrightonandHoveJobs.com County Ground, Hove today.

The purpose of the visit is to observe some of the work that Sussex County Cricket Club and Sussex Cricket Board have joined forces to undertake in recognition that cricket can be used to far greater effect to impact on social good and social change.

This has resulted in the recently formed ‘Sussex Cricket in the Community’ with the vision of ‘Building better futures and stronger communities, using the power of cricket’.

Participation programmes in Crawley will work towards community cohesion, using the power and the reach of cricket towards further integration of the diverse nature of Crawley communities. In Whitehawk and Moulsecoomb in Brighton, a cricket format known as ‘Street20’ will be used to engage young people, aiming to work towards citizenship, education and health outcomes.

Culture Secretary Sajid Javid said, “Sport is a great way to bring people who share an interest and passion together.

“Cricket, in particular, appeals to people from all sorts of backgrounds and can help us build stronger communities all around the country. This government funding will build on the great work Sussex already do with their cricket in the community programme and will help them achieve even more.”

Tim Shutt, Head of Sussex Cricket in the Community said, “This investment from the DCMS will enable us to run cricket in different ways in different communities with the clear purpose that this is cricket for social good rather than just cricket for cricket’s sake.

“We are very excited by what can be achieved working in partnership with those that live and work in these communities. We are also very grateful to our national governing body, the ECB, who have supplemented this investment to ensure that an essential cricket facility can be installed in the heart of Crawley.”

Clare Connor, ECB’s Head of Women’s Cricket said, “Coming from Sussex and being a former Sussex cricketer myself, I am excited by the news that the DCMS has invested £50,000 into supporting ‘Sussex Cricket in the Community’. This investment will help develop community cricket programmes in Brighton, Hove and Crawley.

“The ECB is delighted to financially support the initiative by ensuring the necessary facilities are established in areas which really allow us to engage with young people.

“It was an honour to be a part of today’s launch. We’d like to thank Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State, for coming to Hove to give his support and we’d like to credit Sussex Cricket for their years of hard work in building a strong community through the power of cricket.”